EU leaders met under the spectre of Europe’s sluggish vaccine drive

Brussels, Feb 25 (AFP/APP): EU leaders met Thursday under the spectre of Europe’s sluggish vaccine drive as a new study showed Pfizer’s Covid jab to be 94 percent effective, raising hopes for mass immunisation campaigns to help end the pandemic.

The news came as the World Health Organization (WHO) urged governments to try to better understand the long-term consequences of coronavirus on some sufferers, calling the impact of prolonged symptoms a “significant” burden. The virus was centre stage at the virtual EU meeting where leaders were due to discuss Europe’s vaccine procurement woes, and also debate so-called “green passports”. Ahead of the video-conference, Austria’s Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov called for passes to be issued to allow Europeans who have been vaccinated to travel and socialise. “We want to get back to normal as quickly as possible, have our old lives back and maximum freedom,” Kurz tweeted.

The bloc has been plagued by vaccine supply problems and has come under fire for its stuttering rollout. Just four percent of the EU’s 450 million people have received at least one jab, according to an AFP tally, but European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said her goal is to have 70 percent of adults in the bloc vaccinated by mid-September